Proline accumulates in a variety of plant species in response to stresses such as drought, salinity and extreme temperatures. Although its role in plant osmotolerance remains controversial, proline is thought to contribute to osmotic adjustment, detoxification of reactive oxygen species and protection of membrane integrity. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of stress‐inducible proline production on osmotic adjustment, chlorophyll fluorescence and oxidative stress protection in transgenic sugarcane transformed with a heterologous P5CS gene. In well‐watered conditions, free proline, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, Fv/Fm ratios and chlorophyll contents (Chls) in transgenic sugarcane were not statistically different from non‐transformed control plants. After 9 days without irrigation, proline content in transgenic events was on the average 2.5‐fold higher than in controls. However, no osmotic adjustment was observed in plants overproducing proline during the water‐deficit period. The photochemical efficiency of PSII observed was higher (65%) in the transgenic events at the end of the water‐deficit experiment. The effects of proline on lipid peroxidation as MDA levels and on the decline of Chl in paraquat‐treated leaf discs along the drought period suggest that proline protected the plants against the oxidative stress caused by the water deficit. The overall capacity of transgenic plants to tolerate water‐deficit stress could be assessed by the significantly higher biomass yields 12 days after withholding water. These results suggest that stress‐inducible proline accumulation in transgenic sugarcane plants under water‐deficit stress acts as a component of antioxidative defense system rather than as an osmotic adjustment mediator.

The molecular mechanisms of plant recognition, colonization, and nutrient exchange between diazotrophic endophytes and plants are scarcely known. Herbaspirillum seropedicae is an endophytic bacterium capable of colonizing intercellular spaces of grasses such as rice and sugar cane. The genome of H. seropedicae strain SmR1 was sequenced and annotated by The Paraná State Genome Programme—GENOPAR. The genome is composed of a circular chromosome of 5,513,887 bp and contains a total of 4,804 genes. The genome sequence revealed that H. seropedicae is a highly versatile microorganism with capacity to metabolize a wide range of carbon and nitrogen sources and with possession of four distinct terminal oxidases. The genome contains a multitude of protein secretion systems, including type I, type II, type III, type V, and type VI secretion systems, and type IV pili, suggesting a high potential to interact with host plants. H. seropedicae is able to synthesize indole acetic acid as reflected by the four IAA biosynthetic pathways present. A gene coding for ACC deaminase, which may be involved in modulating the associated plant ethylene-signaling pathway, is also present. Genes for hemagglutinins/hemolysins/adhesins were found and may play a role in plant cell surface adhesion. These features may endow H. seropedicae with the ability to establish an endophytic life-style in a large number of plant species.

Sucrose metabolism and the role of sucrose synthase were investigated in the fruit tissues (pericarp, perisperm, and endosperm) of Coffea arabica during development. Acid invertase, sucrose phosphate synthase, and sucrose synthase activities were monitored and compared with the levels of sucrose and reducing sugars. Among these enzymes, sucrose synthase showed the highest activities during the last stage of endosperm and pericarp development and this activity paralleled closely the accumulation of sucrose in these tissues at this stage. Carbon partitioning in fruits was studied by pulse-chase experiments with (14)C-sugars and revealed high rates of sucrose turnover in perisperm and endosperm tissues. Additional feeding experiments with (14)CO(2) showed that leaf photosynthesis contributed more to seed development than the pericarp in terms of photosynthate supply to the endosperm. Sugar analysis, feeding experiments, and histological studies indicated that the perisperm plays an important role in this downloading process. It was observed that the perisperm presents a transient accumulation of starch which is degraded as the seed develops. Two full-length cDNAs (CaSUS1 and CaSUS2) and the complete gene sequence of the latter were also isolated. They encode sucrose synthase isoforms that are phylogenetically distinct, indicating their involvement in different physiological functions during cherry development. Contrasting expression patterns were observed for CaSUS1 and CaSUS2 in perisperm, endosperm, and pericarp tissues: CaSUS1 mRNAs accumulated mainly during the early development of perisperm and endosperm, as well as during pericarp growing phases, whereas those of CaSUS2 paralleled sucrose synthase activity in the last weeks of pericarp and endosperm development. Taken together, these results indicate that sucrose synthase plays an important role in sugar metabolism during sucrose accumulation in the coffee fruit.

Coffee is one of the most valuable agricultural commodities and ranks second on international trade exchanges. The genus Coffea belongs to the Rubiaceae family which includes other important plants. The genus contains about 100 species but commercial production is based only on two species, Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora that represent about 70 % and 30 % of the total coffee market, respectively. The Brazilian Coffee Genome Project was designed with the objective of making modern genomics resources available to the coffee scientific community, working on different aspects of the coffee production chain. We have single-pass sequenced a total of 214,964 randomly picked clones from 37 cDNA libraries of C. arabica, C. canephora and C. racemosa, representing specific stages of cells and plant development that after trimming resulted in 130,792, 12,381 and 10,566 sequences for each species, respectively. The ESTs clustered into 17,982 clusters and 32,155 singletons. Blast analysis of these sequences revealed that 22 % had no significant matches to sequences in the National Center for Biotechnology Information database (of known or unknown function). The generated coffee EST database resulted in the identification of close to 33,000 different unigenes. Annotated sequencing results have been stored in an online database at http: //www.lge.ibi.unicamp.br/cafe. Resources developed in this project provide genetic and genomic tools that may hold the key to the sustainability, competitiveness and future viability of the coffee industry in local and international markets. Key words: Coffea, cDNA, EST, transcriptome.Projeto Genoma Brasileiro Café: recursos genômicos baseados em ESTs: O café é um dos principais produtos agrícolas, sendo considerado o segundo item em importância do comércio internacional de "commodities". O gênero Coffea pertence à família Rubiaceae que também inclui outras plantas importantes. Este gênero contém aproximadamente 100 espécies, mas a produção comercial é baseada somente em duas espécies, Coffea arabica e Coffea canephora, que representam aproximadamente 70 % e 30 % do mercado total de café, respectivamente. O Projeto Genoma Café Brasileiro foi desenvolvido com o objetivo de disponibilizar os modernos recursos da genômica à comunidade científica e aos diferentes segmentos da cadeia produtiva do café. Para isso, foram seqüenciados 214.964 clones escolhidos aleatoriamente de 37 bibliotecas de cDNA de C. arabica, C. canephora e C. racemosa representando estádios específicos do desenvolvimento de células e de tecidos do cafeeiro, resultando em 130.792, 12.381 e 10.566 seqüências de cada espécie, respectivamente, após processo de trimagem. Os ESTs foram agrupados em 17.982 contigs e em 32.155 singletons. A comparação destas seqüências pelo programa BLAST revelou que 22 % não tiveram nenhuma similaridade significativa às seqüências no banco de dados do National Center for Biotechnology Information (de função conhecida ou desconhecida). A base de dados de ESTs do cafeeiro resultou na identificação de...

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BackgroundCoffee is one of the world's most important crops; it is consumed worldwide and plays a significant role in the economy of producing countries. Coffea arabica and C. canephora are responsible for 70 and 30% of commercial production, respectively. C. arabica is an allotetraploid from a recent hybridization of the diploid species, C. canephora and C. eugenioides. C. arabica has lower genetic diversity and results in a higher quality beverage than C. canephora. Research initiatives have been launched to produce genomic and transcriptomic data about Coffea spp. as a strategy to improve breeding efficiency.ResultsAssembling the expressed sequence tags (ESTs) of C. arabica and C. canephora produced by the Brazilian Coffee Genome Project and the Nestlé-Cornell Consortium revealed 32,007 clusters of C. arabica and 16,665 clusters of C. canephora. We detected different GC3 profiles between these species that are related to their genome structure and mating system. BLAST analysis revealed similarities between coffee and grape (Vitis vinifera) genes. Using KA/KS analysis, we identified coffee genes under purifying and positive selection. Protein domain and gene ontology analyses suggested differences between Coffea spp. data, mainly in relation to complex sugar synthases and nucleotide binding proteins. OrthoMCL was used to identify specific and prevalent coffee protein families when compared to five other plant species. Among the interesting families annotated are new cystatins, glycine-rich proteins and RALF-like peptides. Hierarchical clustering was used to independently group C. arabica and C. canephora expression clusters according to expression data extracted from EST libraries, resulting in the identification of differentially expressed genes. Based on these results, we emphasize gene annotation and discuss plant defenses, abiotic stress and cup quality-related functional categories.ConclusionWe present the first comprehensive genome-wide transcript profile study of C. arabica and C. canephora, which can be freely assessed by the scientific community at http://www.lge.ibi.unicamp.br/coffea. Our data reveal the presence of species-specific/prevalent genes in coffee that may help to explain particular characteristics of these two crops. The identification of differentially expressed transcripts offers a starting point for the correlation between gene expression profiles and Coffea spp. developmental traits, providing valuable insights for coffee breeding and biotechnology, especially concerning sugar metabolism and stress tolerance.

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Citrus canker, caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis Starr and Garces pv. citri (Hasse) Vauterin et al., is one of the main problems affecting citrus production. In order to obtain resistance to phytopathogenic bacteria, insect genes, coding for antimicrobial proteins, have been used in plant genetic transformation. In this study, transgenic Citrus sinensis (L.) Osb. `Hamlin' plants expressing the antimicrobial insect-derived attacin A gene (attA) were obtained by Agrobacterium tumefaciens (Smith and Towns.) Conn-mediated transformation. Initially, the cDNA clone was used to construct a binary plasmid vector (pCattA 2300). The construction included the native signal peptide (SP) responsible for directing the insect protein to the extracellular space where bacteria is supposed to accumulate in vivo. In order to investigate the native SP effectiveness in a plant model system, onion (Allium cepa L.) epidermal cells were transformed, via biobalistics, using plasmids containing the attA gene with or without SP, fused with the green fluorescent protein gene (pattA 1303 and pSPattA 1303). Fluorescence accumulation surrounding the cells was observed only in tissues transformed with the plasmid containing the gene with SP, indicating the protein secretion to the apoplast. Citrus transformation was confirmed by PCR and Southern blot hybridization analysis in 12 regenerated plants. Transcription of attA gene was detected by Northern blot analysis in all transgenic plants. Eight selected transgenic lines were propagated and inoculated with a 106 cfu/mL suspension of the pathogen X. axonopodis pv. citri. Compared to control (non-transformed plant), seven transgenic lines showed a significant reduction in susceptibility to citrus canker. The results obtained here indicate the potential use of antibacterial proteins to protect citrus from bacterial diseases.